The Soccer Series - Part VI

The End

One beautiful fall day we headed to the soccer field to watch our oldest play in a very competitive girls game. The key word is competitive. At this stage of playing soccer (11 year old girls) the game was not about running around the soccer field being distracted by clover patches and bumble bees. It was all about scoring points for your team and not allowing anyone to score against you. My daughter was playing forward and it was a fast paced but low scoring game. The fans were biting their nails and glaring at any girl who made a mistake. My daughter had the ball and she was going for the goal. She dodged opposing players as she dominated the soccer ball and the soccer field. She ran toward the goal and had a clear shot of scoring, she pulled her leg back and she kicked the ball with all her might . . . and to the total surprise of everyone who was watching, the goalie, a petite girl, dove through the air and body slammed my daughter's legs. I was up and on the field in a flash. I cleared the field, called 911 and sat with the goalie as we waited for the ambulance. I knew she had broken her collar bone. My daughter, fighting back the tears, sat on the sidelines waiting for me. Some insensitive parents pointed at her and said purposely loud enough for her to hear, "She's the one who did it!" My daughter sat there with her head down and crying on the inside, thinking, "But I'm not a bad person. I love Jesus. It was an accident." Our spark for soccer faded after that. I mean, how many soccer pictures does a parent need anyway? So . . . softball pictures . . . oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!